[According to MT, the story that eventually became
Pudd'nhead Wilson began when he saw "a picture of a
youthful Italian freak." Perhaps that picture was one of
the ones here, which were printed with the attached
article in Scientific American, December 1891]

THE TOCCI TWINS.

We give illustration of what are probably the most
remarkable human twins that have ever approached maturity.
They recently arrived in this country. They are known as
the brothers Giovanni and Giacomo Tocci. They were born on
July 4, 1875 . . . The twins are connected from the sixth
rib downward, and have but one pair of legs and a single
abdomen. . . . They have two distinct stomachs, hearts, and
pairs of lungs. The arterial and respiratory systems are
quite distinct; the heart beats and breathing differing
often in the two individuals. . . .

Their lives are distinct. They have regions of common
sensibility, and of purely individual sensation. One often
sleeps when the other wakes. There is no direct
correspondence of their appetites. One may be hungry while
the other is fast asleep.

In their general appearance there is nothing repulsive.
They have bright, intelligent faces, not of the peculiar
cast common to cripples. They are educated and write their
names as souvenirs for visitors.

They are able to stand, but have not yet succeeded in
walking, as each leg is governed by its own brain. The want
of correspondence has proved fatal to any attempts in this
direction. They can stand quietly, so that it is not only a
question of strength. At their home they spend much of
their time on the floor, using their inner arms for the
most part, crawling and tumbling about and thus getting a
certain amount of exercise. They can dress and undress
themselves.

The one on the reader's left as he faces the picture,
Giavanni, drinks beer in considerable quantities. The other
one, Giacomo, not liking beer, drinks mineral water in its
place. Giovanni is quite fond of sketching and draws with
some spirit. He rests the book or paper on his knee.
Sometimes his brother, who is more of a talker and more
volatile in disposition, finding some fault with the
drawing, will kick the drawing off his knee. All this in
good part, for they live on excellent terms with each
other, and seem unconscious of any misfortune in their
condition.

They are disconnected as regards illness. Quite recently
one of them had a cold, while the other was suffering from
a bilious attack.

The Siamese twins Eng and Chang, who died in 1874,
within a few hours of each other, at the age of sixty
years, were very celebrated. . . . Before the Siamese
twins, the "Hungarian sisters," Helena and Judith
(1701-1723), obtained much celebrity. Their region of
connection was the sacrum. The South Carolina negresses,
Millie and Christine, exhibited under the misleading title
of the two-headed nightengale, were another interesting
example of twinning. . . . They had four legs, and were
really not much more closely connected than the Siamese
twins. They enjoyed excellent health and spirits and used
to sing together. They progressed by walking either on the
rear pair of legs or on all four, in which case they moved
sidewise. Waltzing was one of their accomplishments. . . .
They were born about 1851.